Pc Protection

[bunty39]

Hi, I've done it again; put my question in the wrong category.
Is it ever harmful to open an email? I've fallen foul by opening attachments and clicking on links, but I'm now worried that there may be dangers in opening some emails. Any advice please?

[boxtops]

Yes, there is. You should never open an email if you are not 100% sure who it's from, and certainly never click on links in them. You leave yourself open to spam or hacking if you do. Just delete them.

[Daffy6543]

The text/images of the email itself is unlikely to be a danger, any links or attachments may be. I have opened some very dodgy emails just to be nosy but never had a problem because of it.

[Old_Geezer]

Not an expert but I think there is a theoretical danger with simply opening an e-mail. But in practice I suspect it is near zero. Probably to do with active content in an e-mail when there ought to be just text & attachments, even if some of the text might be interpreted as links to elsewhere. If you have a decent AV then it should catch anything dodgy. I suspect you are worrying unnecessarily but it is a good idea to avoid those that are clearly spam.